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PabFz Typ 47
The Panzerabwehrfahrzeug mit 12,8cm, Typ 47 '(usually abbreviated PabFz Typ 47) was a Blue German Tank Destroyer built by Storck & Sons. Design The PabFz Typ 47 is based off the Sturer Emil, a Nazi German tank destroyer built off a prototype heavy tank chassis. While the Sturer Emil in real life was a conversion of only a limited number of vehicles, in Frontlines, the PabFz Typ 47 is part of a serial production series. History Blue Germany observed the rising power of Fascist France with great unease during the mid 1940s, especially as their own power grew. It became increasingly obvious by 1944 that conflict with the Third Empire would come at some point. This put the Blue German war machine into full swing with the induction of the Six Year Plan (''Sechsjahresplan), a Blue German initiative to surpass the military capability of the French within six years. One area that caused the Germans the most apprehension was French armor. The French had rapidly modernized their armored doctrine in the years after the Fascist Crisis, modeling their new tanks off the idea of quick maneuver warfare. The Germans, who had helped to pioneer this approach, had taken a backseat in tank development but now felt the impetus to catch up, especially with the appearance of newer and larger French tanks during the Iberian War. While new tanks were in development, the German Armored Forces Command decided that tank destroyers should be developed to destroy French tanks at long range. Several broad specifications were issued for this type of vehicle, including Spezifikation Ab. 12 ''of February 1946 ''which called for a large tank destroyer armed with a gun of 'at least 100mm caliber' and weighing about 30 tons. Storck & Sons (who had developed the earlier Typ 45 heavy tank) responded in March 1946 with plans for a vehicle known by the internal designation SchFz 29. This vehicle was ordered off the drawing board directly, despite it violating the weight limitation of the issued specification (the vehicle weighed about 39 tons when completed). It was by far the heaviest armed vehicle to be proposed in response to the specification, however. The SchFz 29 materialized in October 1946. This vehicle was then sent to Kummersdorf, the German armored vehicle testing center, in November. There it was tested at a variety of ranges against different thicknesses of armor, as well as some obsolete tanks such as a handful of SchDb Typ 37s. The 128mm cannon mounted on the SchFz 29 was extraordinarily powerful; one shot from such a gun penetrated completely through the front of a SchDb Typ 37 and came out the other side. The military was very impressed and so 75 units of this type were ordered from Storck. Some light modifications, such as the mounting of a machine gun armament (the prototype had none and was thus felt susceptible to infantry attack) were introduced before the vehicle was officially accepted in January 1947 as the ''Panzerabwehrfahrzeug mit 12,8cm, Typ 47. '' Armament The Zeitz can use a number of extremely deadly heavy cannons, all of them being effective at very long ranges. '''Rednitz L/61 12.8 cm The Rednitz is a very dangerous weapon to enemy tanks. Able to pierce an 173mm of armor at 1000 meters, the Rednitz should not be taken lightly by any tank even at those extreme ranges. The Rednitz also fires a very effective high explosive shell, able to demolish even heavily constructed emplacements. Category:Vehicles Category:Armored Vehicles Category:Tank Destroyers Category:Storck & Sons Products